In August 2020, Logicalis South Africa partnered with iCubed Technologies, a privately owned I.T. solutions company to assist Lenasia Muslim School in strengthening their overall IT systems focusing on their network connectivity. The collaboration ensured that the school was able to run successful online teaching and learning during this pandemic. This initiative was not only able to help the teachers to engage and educate their learners virtually, but it helped the school save the high costs that would ordinarily be associated with this kind of overhaul.
When South Africa entered into the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were forced to shut down to try and curb the spread of the virus. Some schools, including Lenasia Muslim School, used a hybrid and remote teaching model to engage and to continue teaching their learners. This shift into digital transformation however revealed some challenges in the networking system in the Southern Johannesburg area because the internet connectivity was powered by LTE connectivity and was very unstable, resulting in difficulties in facilitating effective remote and hybrid teaching. At this point, Logicalis stepped in to provide assistance.
Some of the solutions provided by Logicalis South Africa included:
• New SD-WAN implementation installed. LSA implemented a SD-WAN configuration comprising the 3 x LTE connections with the aid of the NGFW Fortigate Firewall Appliance installed.
• Better Security. A new next generation firewall was installed to protect the school’s data from potential cyberattacks.
• Enhanced Teaching. Because of this initiative, the schoolteachers are now able to connect their laptops to the Internet and In-classroom projector network via the WiFi network
• Updated Connectivity. The stable signal now means that classes will no longer be interrupted by lagging images or audio and facilitates much better collaboration between teachers and teachers (for lesson planning) and also for learners and learners (for group assignments).
“The lockdown meant that Wi-Fi became an increasingly important tool due to the introduction into hybrid teaching. The school definitely needed new and solid technology, the previous LTE system was very disjointed and unstable as compared to the new SD-WAN implementation, which resulted in difficulties in facilitating effective remoting and hybrid teaching. We’re very grateful to Logicalis for assisting us with the latest fibre that was able to better position the school for the current reality and for the future” said Ms N. Suliman, Principal of Lenasia Muslim School.
As a top performing school in the province, Lenasia Muslim School aims to maintain its three-year streak in the District Dux award. This opportunity by Logicalis South Africa has allowed the school to maintain this performance by shifting into the next stage of hybrid teaching safely and reliably. The school can now teach from school and projects lessons to learners that are at home. As the national lockdown restrictions and social distancing guidelines limited the number of learners that could physically come to school, the opportunity offered by Logicalis South Africa has permitted learners to continue with their studies without interruptions. The particular use of Google Classroom has resulted in the school, and all the learners, being a step ahead with the curriculum.
“It's a bit too soon to see the difference that this intervention has had on our academic results but we are very confident that it will result in another great academic year for the school, despite the very challenging situations that has been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. This is a game-changer for the school as the usage of the new networking system allows for a much better communication and connectivity,” concluded Ms Suliman.
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